social shopping

Step aside, fashion designers and retailers: Web sites devoted to selling user-generated -- or "crowd-sourced" -- clothing are proliferating, enabling shoppers to take product design and selection into their own hands.

International fashion retailer C&A thinks you'll like its clothes better if you know just how much other people like them. New hangers in its Brazilian stores include a display that shows in real time how many Facebook 'likes' a given item has gotten.

In a digital era defined by sites like Facebook, Foursquare and Groupon, a new breed of consumers has emerged: social shoppers, people increasingly relying on the wisdom of the digital crowd to help them make their purchasing decisions. Sound like someone you know? Read on ...

Social shopping site Groupon has garnered fast success and a dizzying valuation of $1.35 billion. Its new hyperlocal and reward-plan features help illustrate why the startup has such a sky-high price tag.